My DD turns 18 this coming August. She has said that the only present she wants is a trip to Japan Now, I am by no means rich, but I thought that if she contributed and I got all the family and friends of family together and we all chipped in to the Japan fund instead of buying her presents we just might be able to swing it - not for August, but maybe for next Spring. Plus she has gets a portion of a small trust on her 18th birthday that she said she would use for spending money.

Here's the real problem though. The only way I will sanction the trip is if she goes with a reputable group tour type of thing. I know that makes me a boring mommy who won't let her go fly by the seat of her pants, but I think Japan is a BIG BIG gift and a BIG BIG step in my letting go and I am already going crazy with worry just thinking about it so I'm certainly not buying tickets and saying "have fun!" like she wants. Most of the tours I have been able to find are geared more toward older adults though. I can find a bunch of groups for young adults going to Europe, Africa or other parts of Asia, but not Japan! I did find one group called Intrepid: http://www.intrepidtravel.com/search/trips. The default for pricing is Australian dollars which makes me think they are an Australian company, but you can change the currency to U.S. dollars. When I tried to contact them to find out where the flights originate (from U.S. or Australia) they never got back to me. The prices are quite inexpensive, but that could be because of the difference in flight prices from U.S. to Japan and Australia to Japan. Their lack of communication doesn't make me feel very comfortable about their company.

Sooooo, my question is #1) Does anyone know of any other groups that offer young adult tours of Japan and #2) Does anyone know anything about this Intrepid company

Has she thought of a volunteer-oreinted type tour? I'm pretty sure Nat. Geograhical has some trips based on teaching English, giving a helping hand at orhanages sort of thing - would that be anything she's interested in?